Glenn Greenwald, the American journalist who aided in publishing reports that allege Canada spied on Brazil's Energy and Mines Ministry, testified in front of a Senate committee in that country on Wednesday.

The columnist with the Guardian newspaper was asked by the congressional committee about what role Canada played in obtaining information.

"They wanted to know specifically what information Canada collected about the ministry, what the objective of the spying was specifically, what exactly the methods that were used to collect this information and evade the system," Greenwald told the CBC's Susan Ormiston after testifying.

Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden is the source of Greenwald's information, and the journalist told CBC News earlier this week that he has on Canada's alleged spying.

Brazil's politicians have expressed frustration at Canada's response to the allegations, and the senator leading an investigation into the matter pressured officials to explain.

"It's Canada's turn to come to Brazil to explain exactly what it's done against our country and what kind of espionage," Senator Vanessa Graziotin said. "And if it hasn't done anything, then tell us clearly that nothing has happened."

Click the video above for Susan Ormiston's report from Brazil.

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World Leaders React To NSA Spying

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Russian President Vladimir Putin called the massive U.S. surveillance programs, revealed last week by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, “generally practicable” and “the way a civilized society should go about fighting terrorism.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting with prosecutor general Yuri Chaika, not pictured, at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service)

In a statement to Parliament, Hague said the UK's information-sharing relationship with the U.S. was "essential to the security of the country" and had "saved many lives."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague speaks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Tuesday, June 25, 2013 in Simi Valley, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

"I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations," European Parliament President Martin Schulz said in a statement. "If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-U.S. relations. On behalf of the European Parliament, I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from the U.S. authorities with regard to these allegations."
Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, delivers a speech during the funeral ceremony of former Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Horn at the Fiumei cemetery in Budapest on July 8, 2013. (PETER KOHALMI/AFP/Getty Images)

German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger "said if the accusations were true, it was reminiscent of the Cold War," ministry spokesman Anders Mertzlufft said, adding that the minister "has asked for an immediate explanation from the United States."
German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger arrives for the weekly German federal Cabinet meeting on July 10, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called for a swift explanation from American authorities. "These acts, if they are confirmed, would be absolutely unacceptable," he said in a statement.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius speaks to journalists upon arrival for the Donor Conference for Development in Mali, in Brussels, Wednesday, May 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

"A shiver ran down my back when I learned that they are spying on all of us," Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said in a speech on July 9.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner speaks to the press upon her arrival for a meeting with other leftist Latin American leaders called after Bolivia's President Evo Morales plane was rerouted in Europe amid suspicions US fugitive Edward Snowden was aboard, in the Bolivian central city of Cochabamba, on July 4, 2013. (JORGE BERNAL/AFP/Getty Images)

"We are against these kinds of espionage activities,"Peruvian President Ollanta Humala said in a televised interview. "It would be good for (Peru's) Congress to look with concern at privacy issues related to personal information."
Peruvian President Ollanta Humala talks to the assistants to the ceremony of signature of a loan to Peru aiming to improve Ministry of Education systems the to assess student learning and to monitor pedagogical practices in regulating basic education signed by at the presidential Palace in Lima, Peru, on July 1, 2013 (CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP/Getty Images)

Gilberto Carvalho, a top aide to President Dilma Rousseff, said a "very hard" response to the United States was needed. "If we lower our heads, they will trample all over us tomorrow," he said.
Gilberto Carvalho, chief minister of the general secretariat of the presidency, talks about the protests across the country during a meeting marking World Youth Day at the presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

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POLITICIANS REACT TO NSA SPYING

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said the court order for telephone records was part of a three-month renewal of an ongoing practice, the Associated Press reported.
"It’s called protecting America," Feinstein said at a Capitol Hill news conference.

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) said "the administration owes the American public an explanation of what authorities it thinks it has."

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said in a statement:
"This type of secret bulk data collection is an outrageous breach of Americans’ privacy."

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he was "glad" the NSA was collecting phone records.
"I don’t mind Verizon turning over records to the government if the government is going to make sure that they try to match up a known terrorist phone with somebody in the United States," Graham said in an interview on "Fox and Friends."

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) also claimed that reports of the NSA collecting phone records was "nothing particularly new."
"Every member of the United States Senate has been advised of this," Chambliss said. "And to my knowledge we have not had any citizen who has registered a complaint relative to the gathering of this information."

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) found the NSA collecting phone records "troubling."
"The fact that all of our calls are being gathered in that way -- ordinary citizens throughout America -- to me is troubling and there may be some explanation, but certainly we all as citizens are owed that, and we're going to be demanding that," Corker said.